Leading global minds to share their vision of the future

As the stars and directors and film buffs and fans begin to drift away from Dubai, an altogether different type of person has started to arrive.

The Dubai International Film Festival is over. The Arab Strategy Forum begins today.

Their proximity in time and space might have been a fortunate coincidence. The intellectual energy which both represent is not.

They are the two sides of the same coin. Heads is the overview of a region, striving to find a clear and valued role in a changing world, while taking its people forward in peace, justice and prosperity.

Tails is the creative force which drives these societies on, which is always seeking to learn, renew and evolve.

Politics might be defined by power relationships. It is certainly the art of the possible. It is intellect which drives change and growth. It allows for the improbable, it explores the limits of the impossible.

The one without the other creates either a world without hope or a fool's paradise. Vision without a plan is a nightmare; a plan without vision is mere repetition or a well-ordered march to nowhere.

So now we move on to heads. The three-day forum brings together leading minds from the Middle East and beyond. They will be sharing their vision for the future, looking ahead to where the Arab world should be in 2020 and trying to define how to get there.

There will be considerable disagreement. There should be. Debate produces better answers, provided the proponents of differing views take the time and care to listen and learn from those with whom they disagree.

One of the central themes of the film festival was bridging cultural differences. Would be that this were one of the drivers of international relations. Diversity can be intimidating. It might be comforting to turn one's back on the unfamiliar and scurry back to the safety of the everyday.

The modern world, though, does not permit this. Therefore, the only issue is, how does one deal with it? By trying to homogenise the world through force and naked power? By retreating behind cultural walls and hoping a hostile world will pass by?

Perhaps dialogue, respect and the patient, if sometimes irritating, pursuit of honourable compromise might be more fruitful. Certainly, it was intriguing how Arab film fascinated non-Arabs and vice versa at the festival.

The arts have opened a door to those now gathering for the forum. I am fascinated by Arab culture but do not wish to be an Arab. I hope Arabs are interested in African cultures without wishing to be African.

Perhaps countries and regions can interact without wishing to dominate. Perhaps this is exploring the limits of the impossible.